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27 [1] אבדנו, a reference to 15,33 when the people swallowed by the earth during Korach’s uprising had been described by the Torah as ויאבדו, “they became lost.” The people now felt that a similar fate might befall them on any day if the Tabernacle was so inaccessible to them.
[2] כל הקרב הקרב אל משכן ה' ימות, they spell out what they mean by predicting that they may die any moment. Remember that the prohibition for non-priests not to enter the Tabernacle’s precincts had not been issued yet; this legislation had not yet been published. This is the reason why later in our portion (18,4) as well as in 18,7 both the prohibition and the penalty for violating it are spelled out precisely. In Leviticus where similar legislation did appear it referred only to the offering of sacrifices in the Tabernacle by non-priests (Leviticus 21,17 as well as 22, 3). In that context only priests afflicted with a blemish had been banned from partaking in such activities as had been reserved for priests. Also in chapter 22 there only the eating of sacrificial meat in a state of ritual impurity had been forbidden. At any rate, no death penalty had yet been spelled out for non-priests violating the rules for entering the Tabernacle or handling its furnishings had been discussed.
Version: Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash
License: CC-BY